Simple Macro-Close up Tutorial

Hi guys

I decided to make my first very simple macro/close up tutorial And this is made specially for beginners and who have at least a knowledge in photoshop

This is the "how i make my photos" as some of my Facebook friends requested it (already in my facebook) I thank them and you for giving interest to my simple works.
And I hope this will answer also for those who are still asking me on how I did my winning photo in the Macro Contest [link]
Yes it may not be similar but you can read to the artist comment on that photo on how I did it

Just be creative and look around.Bring your camera anywhere take notice to the things that most people usually ignore it.

This was taken at the park

The "Before" photo was the original shot.NO edit except my name on it lol. If you have a shaky hands you can use tripod (this is hand-held).Make sure you don't disturb their business I used my cheap lens Canon 50mm f/1.8 in a manual mode set to the right exposure (this will depends on the light availability), manual focus and no flash.
I took several shoots in different angles.The key point is just play with the settings. This will help you learn and know your camera more. I was about 1-2 feet away from the subject.

Now for the After photo I use Photoshop CS3.
Choose the best photo you got (I prefer the sharpest/more detailed one)

The "After" photo was at least my good edited one.

Nothing special. Crop to your liking (check the angle or composition).

After you crop to your desired angel/composition, duplicate the your image. Choose Filter > Others>High Pass.

Then a new window will appear, then play on the Radius. I recommend using 1-2.5 pixels (this will depend on how focus your subject is).Too much sharpness is not good.

I press Ctrl + M for Curves. This will give some highlights and shadows to your image.

For this image I used Hue (ctrl + U) to give some colors.You may also use Color Balance (ctrl + B).

I also added a bokeh (this is mine)here just to make more pleasant scene .When adding any texture, erase the part on your main subject.

You can use Burn or Curves to add details on the shadows.

And

That's it
Now can you feel "LOVE IS ON THE AIR? OR LOVE HURTS?

"I used Flies as my subject because it is challenging. You can start shooting with a more steady subjects like flowers,leaves, snails (it's slow moving) or any you like."

I hope this will help for those who always tried to have good macro/close up photograps Macro lens is not always an option

Happy shooting everyone

Please let me know what you think